Gods are Nothing
by HMS Siren
Summary: Rin overestimates himself and gets hurt. Ryūji heals him AND berates him. But in the end, they're each other's support pillars and they'll look out for each other. [One-Shot]


**A/N:**

 **Hails: This is just something fluffy to lighten the mood and maybe revive the Blue Exorcist fandom a bit. We're all kind of dead in the mud but it's whatever. I'll keep writing anyway. This was slightly inspired by a concept sent to me by httydbitch on Tumblr and a piece of art done by the artist Vinetabris (who is wonderful in every way). You should go check both of them out!**

 **I disregard any claims to the characters, setting, or plot of Blue Exorcist/青の祓魔師, which are a property of the mangaka Kazue Kato. I'm just borrowing them for a little non-profit fun.**

* * *

Ryūji could still feel the faint remnants of panic buzz beneath the surface of his skin. His heart still beat fiercely against his ribcage but it had begun to slow in the time he'd spent alone, abandoned by Rin's pearly smile and reassuring laughter.

" _It's fine, see? I'm okay."_

The blood streaming down over Rin's left eye hadn't persuaded him of such. It only worried him further, convinced him that Rin couldn't gauge his own injuries. Guy could take a sword to the stomach and come out swinging but that didn't mean Ryūji wasn't any less calm about it.

His eyes traced Rin's body, how the plush duvet of his bed had been cast aside carelessly by Rin's sleeping form. He was curled up tight, eyes resting softly. His thick, long eyelashes were like a curtain that hid away his eyes. His lips were bruised purple and tender like someone had swung Mjölnir at his face (the object of thought was something of a legend the headmaster had mentioned to them in passing before an out of country mission.) His naked torso was wrapped in pure white bandages and his tail was coiled around his midriff as if offering comfort. ' _See?'_ It seemed to say. ' _It really_ _ **is**_ _fine.'_

The knots in his stomach tightened like a spring winding down. He looked behind him, around him, at the door and the window, as if waiting for someone to burst in and catch him in the act. Then he turned back to Rin. Ryūji inhaled and released a shaky breath and swallowed.

"I believed in you more than any God in this world," He said quietly. He really wished he would have told Rin sooner, at a better time, maybe when he was awake. He wanted to see Rin's reaction to that, though it might be awhile before Rin got up.

Ryūji shifted around in the chair, trying to find a somewhat comfortable position. He absently leaned his elbow on the desk and his head on his hand. A myriad of images flooded his head: the high level demon that ambushed their team in the forest, Rin's desperate attempt to protect everyone, reinforcements arriving just minutes too late, the sickening crack of Rin's bones as he hit the muddy ground, Rin getting up and promising he was okay, Rin falling over like dead weight, exorcists swarming the area.

Rin had tried to smile the pain away, pretend he wasn't hurt or in pain, even when Ryūji accidentally spilled half of the bottle of disinfectant on the nasty gash climbing up Rin's thigh. He had almost gone ballistic, demon side beginning to poke out from underneath his human facade. But in the end, Rin held fast and kept to his cheery demeanor, even going so far as to invite Ryūji to sleep next to him. Ryūji politely declined and opted to stay awake, thinking he might send his brain into overdrive if he did. He had some feelings he needed to sort out concerning Rin and with a whole war happening in the foreground, he really didn't have the time to.

Of course, this didn't mean Ryūji wouldn't take time out of his night to bandage his friend up, to help him heal. Rin could hide the extent of his injuries about as well as a three-year-old playing hot-n-cold, so to speak. Ryūji could remember quite a few things from the experience.

" _Do you have to squish my cheeks?" Rin asked as Ryūji dabbed cleanser on the infected cut that blighted the side of Rin's face._

" _Yes," Ryūji said. He examined the cut, wondering why it hadn't healed sooner when he added- "Only because you won't hold still long enough for me to get a look at everything."_

 _Rin huffed, trying to make an annoyed face. But with one of his eyes swollen shut and part of his right cheek ballooning to the size of a crab apple, the results were a mix of comical and sad. It made Ryūji's heart pang with a need to be soft and compassionate._

" _You really worry me, Rin,"_

 _The demon prince looked at him curiously, tail beginning to sway slowly behind him. He would have tilted his head if Ryūji weren't still holding onto him. That was the first time Rin had ever heard Ryūji refer to him by his first name. It was a pleasing thing to hear, his own name, uttered by someone other than Shiemi or his brother._

" _I worry you?"_

" _All the time," Ryūji answered. He paused for a moment, then released Rin's face to look for any untreated injuries he may have missed. "You keep doing stupid shit like this and I worry one day you're gonna die. I worry that you overestimate yourself sometimes and it results in situations like these."_

 _Rin frowned, averting his gaze. The word 'guilt' hung in the space between them. Ryūji knew his concerns weren't all that necessary. Rin Okumura? Die? As in 'die permanently, never to come back?' He was more likely to dress in drag and do the hula, which knowing Rin, was probably something he had done before._

Ryūji inhaled suddenly, bringing his head up off his hand. Had he been asleep? For how long? The starry, velvety sky outside the window suggested rather late; the digital clock with the bright red numbers suggested rather early. 5:00 in the morning to be precise. Ryūji rolled his shoulders and stretched then nearly had a heart attack on the spot. Rin was missing and his blanket, which had been draped around Ryūji's shoulders a few seconds ago, was lying across the man's lap. There was a pile of bloody bandages where Rin used to be.

It didn't take a genius to figure out where Rin had gone, Ryūji knew his friend all too well. Which, if his habits said anything about him, lead Ryūji to calm down a bit. The thing about being Rin's friend is that it eventually comes with the knowledge that Satan's very own liked the color lavender for a reason.

He supposed, rather than freak out about it, he could bring Rin something to drink instead.

* * *

The sun's rays kissed the sky, bleeding pastels and pales across the canvas, and chasing away the starry night. The twinkling began to fade out, making way for lavenders, amaranths, soft blues, and the faintest mingling of creamy orange.

Rin leaned forward on his arms and released a steamy breath. Trying not to let the misery seep past the barriers of his mind was harder than he liked to admit and he found himself standing here quite often when he needed to fester. It wasn't quite the healthiest thing and it might do him better to beat up a punching bag.

He had too many things to think about, in all honesty. Between his brother, Shiemi, and now Ryūji, things had become just a little more complicated. His life was already an embodiment of the snowball effect-where all his problems continued to steadily increase until they were a massive, unstoppable ball of white powder, anxiety, and all the troubles of regular life with demons and exorcism sprinkled in. A recipe for disaster. Eventually, all that was bound to crash and suffocate someone, particularly him, if it hadn't already.

 _Clink!_

Rin suddenly found his attention swerving to the two mugs now placed between him and another warm body, a nice if not slightly worn teddy fleece blanket being pulled over his and Ryūji's shoulders. Rin absently reached for one of the mugs and held it up to his lips, sipping tentatively from the rim. The liquid burned the roof of his mouth slightly but it was soon followed by the savory sweetness of Rin's favorite green tea.

"Lemon?" He inquired out of the blue.

"And honey and vanilla," Ryūji said after taking a sip of his own tea. "Normally I would have made it with chamomile but today's going to be a long day. I figured you could use the energy boost."

Before he knew it, Rin was smiling but trying to conceal it behind his cup because really, Ryūji may have been a sap but it was in all the best ways. It was comforting to know that Ryūji was familiar with Rin in ways other close ones weren't. Sometimes he wasn't always his usual cheery self, sometimes he had his off days and no one understood it.

But that was okay because he had a support pillar to lean back on when he needed it.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Hails: Hope you liked the fluffy goodness. Be sure to read and review, leave some feedback, and support your local authors.**

 **Stay savvy, my friends.**  
 **~Hails**


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